


Handmade

by sohii



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Forehead Kisses, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Post-Season/Series 03, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohii/pseuds/sohii
Summary: Johnny and Daniel get high on some weed they've confiscated from one of the Miyagi-Do students.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 21
Kudos: 104





	Handmade

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh, I haven't written anything in over half a year, there were all kinds of intention for this that didn't quite happen. one of which, I did mean for the fic to be set sometime after s3 but realise that the timeline gets kinda weird. so just roll with it?? cool??

Stepping back inside the Miyagi-Do, the first thing Johnny registers is footsteps, the thud-thud-thud of a skinny teenager rounding the corner. The second thing he knows is an even skinnier elbow digging into his side as the kid runs full force into him. 

“Hey, what the-” he starts, shoving the kid back. It’s one of the teens, Rocky? Rick? Dickweed? Jesus, he can’t keep track anymore but LaRusso has laid down the law, no more calling the kids names, not in his precious little dojo. 

“Sorry, sensei Lawrence,” the kid splutters, his face bright red, before making a half-assed bow and sprinting out the door. 

“The fuck…” Johnny mutters, rubbing his side. Say what you will about LaRusso but he generally doesn’t scare the kids this bad. In fact, he barely scares them at all and sometimes Johnny worries they’re all gonna turn out to be a bunch of- 

Well. 

Some of the changes are for the better, even Johnny will cop to that. After the divorce, LaRusso started spending more time at the dojo, getting on Johnny’s case about his teaching style. A short lived fight, one busted wall and three rounds of drinks later Johnny had agreed that maybe, _maybe_ , he didn’t need to be yelling at a class of 6-year-olds. 

Johnny wants to think he’s had a similar influence on LaRusso. Helped him loosen up a little, not always yap on about defense this or defense that. That sometimes when you see what you want, when you can see the win right in front of you, you should claim it.

He makes his way through the dojo, toward the back where the doors open to the garden. He stalls, coming to a stop and takes in the view. 

It's still new, this vision of peace. Of green grass, the little stream and the koi pond. And Daniel. 

Johnny’s never known much in his life, peace least of all. There’d been none in the life he had with his mom before Sid, even less so in Sid’s house and least of all at Kreese’s dojo. They’d all prepared him for life in their own ways, made sure he didn’t turn into a pussy.

When they had issued the challenge to Kreese, side by side, he knew it meant war. But this was his chance to make things right, with his students, with Daniel, even Robby. So when LaRusso had offered him shelter in Miyagi-Do, Johnny had known better than to screw it up. 

He picks up a forgotten sweatshirt and some water bottles off the floor, setting them over to the side. Straightening his back, he looks at the row of senseis that hang on the wall, ghosts watching them prepare for the All Valley. One of the pictures, a Japanese portrait is crooked and he nudges it straight. The rest of the ghosts rest right in their frames. They’ve been a quiet audience to him and Daniel, to their circling, to their figuring out how their rough edges fit together.

Johnny knows he’s not the best at these things, at _emotions_. And it had taken him some time to realise he did not have to be, that he’d been practicing for quite some time. That Daniel LaRusso pushed him to action with the confidence of muscle memory. 

He crosses the mat, walking out and finally catching LaRusso’s attention. He’s changed out of his gi, wearing a black sleeveless vest and some sweatpants, his bare feet in the grass. He sets down whatever he’s fiddling with and turns toward Johnny, pulling one leg on the deck. He smiles at Johnny, crows feet and all. 

If pressed, Johnny wouldn’t be able to tell when things shifted. One day he was looking at LaRusso across the room, chuckling at how his dumb hair was flopping all over the place - just get a haircut and some self-respect, God - and then the next day he looked up from correcting some preteen’s stance and found Daniel waiting for him, eyes crinkling in that same smile. What was there to do but smile back? 

If he were drunk, Johnny would say it was the All Valley Tournament of -84. 

“All done?” LaRusso asks as Johnny crosses the garden and settles down next to him. 

“Yeah, dropped the kids off at the strip mall, they were going to get tic tacs?” Johnny shrugs, confident he was much cooler than them when he was young. LaRusso nearly says something then but seems to think better of it, turning away and closing his mouth around a chuckle instead. Whatever, Johnny doesn’t want to know. 

“What’s going on with, you know,” Johnny asks to change the topic, waving his hand in the direction of the door and the teen who nearly broke his ribs. 

“What?” LaRusso looks back from where he’s picked up a towel and something else, the whatever he had been playing with before, “Oh, you mean Matt.” 

“Sure,” Johnny says slowly. Matt could very well be Dickweed, Johnny has no idea. He’s got to figure out their real names before LaRusso finds out.

“Found this on him,” LaRusso says, brandishing a stubby pen in Johnny’s direction. It has a weird flat end and some kind of brown stuff in a see-through container. It doesn’t seem particularly dangerous. 

“A pen? The kids not allowed to take notes now?” Johnny shrugs, not too bothered but trying to figure out why on Earth LaRusso was drying it with the towel. 

“What? No-,” LaRusso pauses in exasperation, staring at Johnny like he’s trying to figure out if Johnny is fucking with him or not. To make LaRusso’s life harder, Johnny gives him a sharp grin, head tilted down in a challenge. God, it’s so fun to fuck with Daniel. 

He gets punched in the shoulder for his effort, a weak little thing he only scoffs at. He glances at LaRusso from the corner of his eye, making sure he knows it's a joke. LaRusso rolls his eyes but instead of giving him the usual reassuring smile, leans against Johnny briefly, his warm weight against Johnny's arm. 

Johnny thinks this is where he’s supposed to reach out and hold Daniel’s hand. But he’s gone, leaning away, before Johnny can act and he curls his hands into fists, squeezing them tight before relaxing. He scrubs his hand through his hair and adjusts his headband. 

“It’s a vape pen,” LaRusso finally explains. 

“And?” He has no idea what LaRusso is talking about. 

“It’s weed,” LaRusso says with a wry smile because of course they ruined weed with tech too. Bet the kids use it to - Johnny doesn’t know - send virals to one another. None of their kids are actually doing anything wrong, the odd karate fight at school aside, so weed really doesn’t feel like that big of a deal. But the air of disappointment around LaRusso has his hackles raised. 

He hasn’t always made the best choices and he’s not sorry he doesn’t fit LaRusso's perfect little world. He’s done what he had to and made his mistakes but he’s not about to sit here and be-

Johnny breathes in, counting to four and breathes out, counting quickly to eight. It’s not quite how Daniel taught him but it's close enough to center him. He thinks of something different instead, something better. Looks over to LaRusso only to find him patiently waiting, looking at the garden again in an attempt to pretend he isn’t but he’s fidgeting, giving himself away. 

“Right,” Johnny starts but needs to clear his throat before continuing, “because we only ever did what was legal.” 

Before LaRusso can respond, Johnny raises his hands to his sides, one in front of Daniel’s chest. He begins to raise his leg, an awkward imitation of LaRusso’s crane kick. When LaRusso catches on, he tries to hide his smile, grabbing Johnny’s arm and shoving him away.

“Asshole,” but there’s joy in LaRusso’s voice, laughing with Johnny who rights himself up. If he takes the opportunity to sit a little closer to LaRusso then what of it? 

“Relax, man. They’re good kids.” 

“You’re right.” It’s the little victories, Johnny thinks, that he loves rubbing in LaRusso’s face.

“Is that so?” He is grinning a little too wide, probably not that attractive, and LaRusso closes his eyes in mock exasperation.

“I take it back. You’re insufferable and the bane of my existence.” There’s no real heat to it and in fact, Johnny takes it as a compliment. 

“Alright, alright, so what’s really got your panties in a twist?” Johnny asks, reaching over and taking the vape pen out of LaRusso’s hands. It’s heavier than he expected and suspiciously clean. LaRusso must’ve done that because Dickweed sure as shit hasn’t. 

LaRusso presses his lips together, mouth a thin line, the way it does when he’s trying to phrase something in a way that won’t piss Johnny off. It used to drive him up the wall, already grinding his teeth before LaRusso even spoke. Now, he takes another deep breath and makes sure his hands are flat against the deck.

“Well, you know, before,” which is code for _when I was married_ and Johnny nods quickly, ushering them past the difficult topic, “we had one. I’m pretty sure I know how it works. If you’d like to try, that is.” 

“LaRusso, you asking me to get high with you?” Johnny had not seen this coming, but of all the things to take him by surprise in his life, this ranks pretty high. He hasn’t done this since high school but the thought of doing it with Daniel Larusso in the garden of their karate dojo? It has his heart beating fast enough to be embarrassing. Shit. 

“Well… yes. I suppose I am,” LaRusso says with a challenge to his tone, one eyebrow raised. How is Johnny supposed to say no to that? He never has before. 

“Alright, show us how then, smartass.” Johnny turns the pen around in his hand, and tries to pull the white cap off but it won’t budge. 

“Come on, give it here before you break it, Jesus.” LaRusso reaches for the pen and Johnny immediately holds it away, pushing at Daniel’s chest to keep him away.

“Give it to me, you-” Daniel flails for the pen and Johnny briefly considers Daniel tackling him to the deck and wrestling for it, his body on top of Johnny’s, holding him down and- He clears his throat and hands the damn thing over, sitting up straighter. 

“Finally,” LaRusso mutters, giving him a weird look. Not knowing what to do, what he’s supposed to do, Johnny clears his throat again, remembering he fake coughed a second ago and is definitely making things weirder. He resigns to shutting up. Good one, Lawrence. 

When LaRusso realises that Johnny isn’t going to say anything, he press the button on the side of the pen. flips the pen around, pointing at the bottom. 

“You press here and it should light up,” LaRusso says and it does just that, a soft white light pulsing once before fading.

“There we go. It takes about a minute to heat up.” LaRusso looks over at Johnny, smiling a little. Johnny nearly clears his throat a third time but bites on the instinct and smiles back instead. He’s such a fucking pussy, what on earth is he doing. 

“Could you go lock the front?” LaRusso asks and if it weren’t for the almost-wrestling, the shy dumb smiles and their even dumber almost - well, shit - could you call it dating yet? Johnny could have mistaken his tone for dismissal. Good instincts, Kreese had called, expecting the worst from people. 

“Go lock the front? What, worried the kids are gonna walk in on us?” Johnny grins, delighted at the thought of their students seeing LaRusso less than polished, to level the playing field some. 

“Yes, John, I do mind having my teenage daughter see me get high.” Daniel LaRusso, everybody, always so responsible.

“Sometimes, you’re no fun, LaRusso” Johnny grumbles but makes sure to touch Daniel’s knee before getting up. It’s only a quick squeeze, reassurance though he’s not sure if it’s for him or LaRusso. Probably both of them. 

He makes his way back to the front of the dojo and locks the doors. They don’t have any more classes today but LaRusso was right, there’s no point in taking the risk. Playing it safe had never been Johnny’s thing but he supposes Daniel brings out the best in him. And the best in him will lock the doors before they get high off of confiscated weed.

As he passes the row of judgemental senseis, he waves his hand at them, dispelling the ghosts. 

“Yeah, yeah, like you were all saints,” he mutters under his breath.

He heads back out to the garden but this time LaRusso’s turned around, watching him return. _Watching him._

Johnny pauses in the middle of the mat, a little thrill running up his spine. This too is new but this time Johnny knows exactly what to do. He peels his hoodie off, pulling it off his arms one by one. It’s not much of a show but Daniel is watching him, grinning and shaking his head softly. 

Trying to contain his laughter, Johnny goes to ruck up the white tank top he’s wearing. But he only gets as far as slipping his hand under and showing a bit of skin before Daniel is outright laughing, waving for him to get over. It’s infectious, the laughter, how Daniel pulls it out of him and Johnny feels like hot air, warm and light. 

Flexing his arms as he drops the hoodie behind in a red pile on the mats. Whatever respect he has for the dojo they share, it doesn’t beat pissing off LaRusso.

LaRusso arches an eyebrow at him and in what is blatant retaliation, brings the vape to his mouth and takes a drag. It’s going great until he breathes out and begins hacking, his whole body shaking with the coughs. 

“Shut up,” LaRusso wheezes between breaths when Johnny takes a seat next to him, unashamedly sitting so close their legs are touching. Equally without shame, Daniel puts his hand over Johnny’s thigh and hands the pen over. 

“Let me show you how it's done, you pussy.” He takes a drag of the vape and feels the warm smoke fill up his lungs. It’s smooth and mostly tasteless and he was right to make fun of LaRusso. Then he goes to exhale and the smoke burns as it pours out, coming is sharp jabs of breath as Johnny coughs at the sting.

“That’s what I thought, tough guy,” LaRusso laughs but his hand comes up to rub Johnny’s back in comforting little circles. 

“Shut up, dumbass” Johnny wheezes in brilliant retort, blinking away the tears in his eyes. This shit had better be worth it. He can’t be crying in front of LaRusso.

He passes the pen back and LaRusso gives it another go. Prepared this time, he only hacks once before taking a deep breath of fresh air. He sits with it for a moment, eyes resting on the garden. Johnny follows his gaze, idly wondering what the place looked like when Hawk and co. had trashed it. 

There’s a twinge of guilt there, for letting Kreese back into his life. But LaRusso had rebuilt his garden so Johnny knows he’s in good hands this time around. 

He accepts the pen back from LaRusso and brings it to his mouth. He notices LaRusso paying attention but whatever had gotten in his head on the mat is long gone and he dips his head before breathing in the smoke. 

“When’s the last time you did this?” LaRusso asks once Johnny’s exhaled. He offers to take the pen and once Johnny’s handed it over, sets it atop the towel next to him. Daniel returns his hand to Johnny’s thigh while he looks at him for an answer. Johnny swallows around a dry throat and thinks back. 

“Dunno. Maybe high school? Right after?” He’s not sure, alcohol being cheaper and more readily available. He tells LaRusso as much and the man briefly smiles in acknowledgement. In return, Daniel talks about a disastrous time when he and Amanda had gotten high only for Sam to get back from a sleepover early. The night had ended in impromptu takeaway and a dinner outdoors in April despite the chill. It had been a brilliant plan. 

They’d switched to the vape pen after that, to avoid the smell. In retrospect, LaRusso doesn’t think they had Sam fooled. 

“Serves you right,” Johnny says, an ache in his cheeks from smiling. Daniel’s a good dad, no matter what anyone says.

“I wish I had a story like that about Robby.” He hadn’t meant to say it but it slipped past whatever poor excuse of a filter Johnny had. It was pretty pathetic but hey, what was LaRusso gonna do, kick him in the head for it?

“We’ll get him back,” Daniel swears and his hand is back on Johnny’s thigh, the only thing keeping him still. “We will.” 

“I know.” And weirdly enough, Johnny means it. Whether it’s the lines of determination around Daniel’s eyes, the knowledge that Daniel has enough force of will to move mountains, that he’s in love with Daniel LaRusso or the weed, he can’t tell. 

But apparently LaRusso can because he’s a fucking mindreader.

“So. Are we going talk about this?” Daniel’s hand on his thigh squeezes again and then hovers, unsure of its welcome. 

Johnny should have known where all this was headed. LaRusso never did shit without ulterior motives. 

“I knew it was a fucking trap,” Johnny sighs, scrubbing his face with one hand before bringing the other up as well, hiding behind both of them as he takes a deep breath. He counts them like Daniel’s taught him and that’s how deep the man has sunk into him, changing how he breathes, taking up all this space in his lungs. When Johnny doesn’t answer, Daniel braves ahead. 

“Did you ever think about this? Us? Before all this, I mean,” Daniel waves his hand at the garden, trying to find the words for all that had happened in the past year or so. It’s hard to trace how exactly they ended up here, which exact choices led to all this. Like most things, Johnny suspects it has something to with -84. It’s good that Daniel decided to grow and inch or two and catch up while they were making their way here.

“Not really,” Johnny says, opting for honesty. He notices how Daniel’s shoulders tense at the answer and reaches his hand up for comfort. He slips his fingers behind Daniel’s elbow and slides them up his arm, following the curve of the muscle. When it tenses under his touch, he squeezes, awed. Holds on because he feels lightheaded and like a breeze could knock him over. 

He meets Daniel’s eyes, feels briefly like he’s come home, and struggles to remember what they were talking about. Right. 

“Did you? Think about me? Us?” 

“I don’t know. Don’t know if I understood what I was feeling.” And Johnny thinks he gets it. He barely knew how to deal with how he felt, much less _what_ he felt. Things aren’t much different now. The deck begins to sway gently with the wind and Johnny wants to be closer, safer so he lays his head on Daniel’s shoulder. 

He let’s go of Daniel’s arm and finds his hand, closing his fingers around Daniel’s. It serves to anchor him against the wind so he won’t end up like some piece of torn up trash, trailing the side of the curb.

“Hey there,” Daniel says and Johnny can hear the smile that is pressed against the top of his head. 

“Hey,” Johnny echoes, a little lost, but sure in his grip on Daniel. 

“Let’s lay down,” Daniel suggests and it sounds like a great plan. With some shuffling around, Johnny finds himself on his back, Daniel propped up against him. He seems oddly sharp, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he smiles down at Johnny. 

“What?” 

“You really haven’t done this in a while, huh,” and there’s hardly no reason for Daniel to look so damn smug. If Johnny thought he could actually stand up on the deck, which was sinking under their weight, he would do it to prove Daniel wrong.

“Whatever,” he mumbles and breathes in Daniel’s stupid expensive cologne. Instead, he grabs for Daniel’s elbow, pulling him closer, needy to feel Daniel pressed up against him. There’s little resistance and somehow Daniel ends up above Johnny, hands framing his face.

He feels Daniel’s fingers brush over his forehead and the edge of his hachimaki. Then his thumbs brush over Johnny’s eyes, wordlessly encouraging him to close his them for a moment. Once Daniel’s thumbs pass, running over the highs of his cheeks, Johnny opens his eyes to Daniel smiling and biting his bottom lip, handsome in his quiet joy. 

He feels Daniel’s fingers move over his forehead and the edge of his hachimaki. Then Daniel pushes his thumbs under the fabric and drags the headband off. 

“What are you doing?” Johnny asks, a little panicked and unable to focus on both of Daniel’s eyes, looking from one to the other. He feels a naked, vulnerable even, and his breath quickens. He’s lighter, held still only by Daniel’s hands around his face, palms warm. He hooks his knee with Daniel’s and tries to hold on and keep up. 

“Just wanted to see you, is all,” Daniel says which makes no sense to Johnny, he’s right there, but then Daniel leans closer, close enough to- 

Kiss his forehead where the hachimaki had been. 

Johnny shudders, clinging to Daniel’s arms, to his stupid hard muscles and breathes through the kindness. When Daniel pulls back, hands in Johnny’s hair, Johnny can’t figure out how to kiss him back. 

“Always loved your hair, you know,” Daniel muses, brushing it back. It feels much longer than it really is when Daniel pushes his fingers through it and he knows it's just the weed making him feel like this, like putty in Daniel’s hands, for him to shape how he pleases. To shape Johnny into something good. 

He goes back to tracing his thumbs over Johnny’s cheeks, under his eyes, over his eyes when Johnny closes them. Brushing away the lines and the anger as Johnny relaxes into the touch. He shapes Johnny into someone who might deserve all this. 

“Can’t make a lover out of me,” Johnny mumbles but he pushes into Daniel’s touch regardless, lets himself be moulded to his touch. 

“That so?” Daniel asks, amused and it’s a good look on him, the way he bites his lip. He does it all the time around Johnny and he used wonder if, if, if but he could never quite figure out if _what_? 

“That so.” Johnny confirms, all unearned confidence because Daniel LaRusso might just love him back. 

“Sounds like a challenge.” Daniel leans down, as if to kiss him again and Johnny instinctively holds his breath only for Daniel to pull back. “I think I know what to do.” 

“I don’t. I have no idea what I’m doing,” Johnny blurts out. He’s talking about his hands, about the way he holds Daniel and about the way he feels about him and where it's all headed. 

“Never stopped you before.” 

“You’re such a nerd, LaRusso, what am I doing,” Johnny complains and holds onto Daniel a little tighter. _Don’t listen to what I’m saying_ , he tries to push through to Daniel, _I don’t know shit._

“You’re infuriating John Lawrence. I wouldn’t want you any other way,” Daniel says, and it’s a confession all on its own, a greater admission than Johnny can imagine making. So he blocks but doesn’t counter. 

“You want me, huh. Dork.” “Better that than a pussy,” Daniel cracks and it’s so funny, the word from Daniel’s mouth, where it clearly lies so uncomfortably. Johnny’s laughter infects Daniel as well and they collapse in a giggling pile. Johnny lets the air escape him, whooshing out from every crevice in his lungs and then he fills it up with more and more of Daniel’s cologne. 

Daniel rolls of him and holds Johnny to him instead. He fits, his body next to Daniel’s, and Johnny feels like himself, like that will be enough. There’s an ease to Daniel’s eyes that is so rarely there that Johnny nearly doesn’t recognise it for what it is. Maybe peace hasn’t figured much into Daniel’s life either. 

People don’t generally look at him like this. People don’t ever look at him like this. He wants to be whatever Daniel asks. Instead he says, “You make me soft, LaRusso.” 

“That a bad thing?” _And face me, bow._

“It’s new.” _Face each other, bow._

“Okay.” _Ready? And fight._ “I’ve got you.” 


End file.
